Boston - Freedom Trail: Kings Chapel - Box Pews

The box pews of King's Chapel are the original pews. Each pew was
owned by a family who paid fifty-four shillings a year (about $150 in
today's money) for the space. They were designed with high sides to
protect worshippers from winter drafts in the days before central
heating. Parishioners would sit close together with a foot warmer on
the floor providing heat. Each pew reflected the size and make-up of
the family, who would bring in their own pillows, fabrics, and
furniture for their pew. Children often faced their parents, rather
than the chancel, so that parents could watch both the service and
their children. The pews in the galleries were were available for
those who could not afford the rent on the box pews downstairs. In
1906, the Church bought back the pews, which are now open to all.
While the pews have required re-upholestering, the padding beneath is
still made of horse hair.

King's Chapel, along with its adjacent burial ground is the fifth stop along the Boston Freedom Trail. Founded by Royal
Governor Andros of the Providence of New England, under the rule of
King James II, on June 15, 1686, it is the oldest member church of the
Unitarian Universalist Association and the first Anglican church in
New England. Today Kings Chapel is an independent Christian Church
with a Unitarian Christian theology, an Anglican form of liturgy, and
a congregational form of governance.

Its first house of worship was a small wooden meeting house at the
corner of the present site at Tremont and School Streets, that was
dedicated on June 30, 1689. The congregation grew and its building
was in a bad state of repair by the middle of the 18th century. After
difficult negotiations with Boston officials, the congregation
acquired more land on the east side of its lot. The new, larger
building was designed by the first American architect, Peter Harrison
of Newport, in 1749 and completed in 1754.